


With Fronds Like These

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Category: Finding Nemo (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Gen, loose crossover with Up, outsider pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:28:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22947034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: A (school) year in the life of Nemo's fifth grade teacher.
Relationships: Dory & Nemo (Finding Nemo), Dory/Marlin (Finding Nemo)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 64





	With Fronds Like These

**Author's Note:**

> Do I ever _intend_ to write human au finding nemo fics? No. Does it happen anyway? Yes. (I have plans for another one.)  
> Just like last time, I am my own target audience. Unlike last time, there are low key references to other pixar movies throughout, including the identity of Nemo's teacher! Two that were planned for this got bumped to my next fic though so you'll have to stay tuned. Some of this is inspired by my own childhood as a teacher's kid.  
> But yeah this is just human!Nemo's fifth grade year, in the same continuity as my last FN/FD fic, built around an outsider pov on their family. Have fun, I know I did :)

Eleanor Wilkes was trying not to look too out of place, hovering by the edge of the room during the back-to-school brunch. She’d spent most of the week mostly interacting with her grade team and her mentor, and now that the faculty were all together and socializing in one room, she was struck by how few people she actually knew. A brunette woman in a floaty blue dress bounced over to her.

“Have we met?” the woman asked.

Eleanor shook her head. “I don’t think so, I haven’t met a lot of people yet.”

“Oh good,” the woman replied, smiling. “I didn’t think so, but my memory isn’t great and sometimes I forget faces.” She held a hand out. “I’m Dory Bronwen, I’m a teaching assistant in the third grade.”

“Eleanor Wilkes,” Eleanor replied, shaking Dory’s offered hand, “Fifth. I’m new.”

“Gotcha!” said Dory. “This year’s fifth were my first class here, they’re good kids.” Another teacher caught Dory’s eye and she waved him over. “Hey, Sam! Come meet the new fifth grade teacher!”

The man, Sam, joined them.

“Hello,” he greeted, “I’m Sam Ray. I’m Dory’s partner teacher, we’re 3A.”

“5B,” Eleanor replied. “I’m Eleanor. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You guys got anything fun planned for this weekend?” Dory asked, grinning. “Last few days before the kids come and all?”

“Nah,” said Eleanor. “Nothing fun, anyway. Just last minute planning,”

“Likewise,” Sam agreed. “Do you, Dory?”

“Last beach weekend of the summer up in Bayview,” she replied. “Staying with the grandparents, but EAC are going to be in town, too.”

“EAC?” Eleanor repeated.

“My buddy Crush and his family,” Dory said. “They travel all over, kinda go with the flow, so we haven’t seen them in a while.”

“I bet that’ll be fun then,” said Eleanor. “You leaving from school today? Bayview’s a few hours away, right?”

“Less when I’m driving than when Mar is,” Dory replied, grinning. “But yes, the boys are picking me up, should be here any – “ Just then, her phone started to ring. “That’s probably them now, excuse me.”

She stepped away to answer her phone. Sam’s eyes tracked the movement, apparently waiting to see how far she’d walk. When she was out of earshot, he leaned a little closer, speaking in a low voice.

“You said you’ve got 5B, right?”

“I am, why?”

Sam nodded toward Dory. “Her son’s in that section.”

“Are you sure?” Eleanor asked, trying to picture her class roster. “I didn’t think I had any Bronwens?”

“You don’t,” Sam said. “You have an Anthony, though. Nemo Anthony. His dad’s very involved, you’ll probably see a lot of him.”

“Why are you telling me this?” said Eleanor.

“Well, you probably heard about the, er, incident a few years ago.” It wasn’t a question. A third grader taken on a school field trip, a father on a quest to find him; the kidnapping had made national news.

“Of course,” replied Eleanor. “Are you telling me that was a teacher’s kid?”

Sam wiggled his hand in a so-so gesture. “Yes and no – Dory met Marlin, Nemo’s dad, while he was searching, then got the job here when they got home. Now, I’m not telling you this as gossip – Nemo is a good kid, and he deserves a reasonably normal life.” He met Eleanor’s eye very deliberately. “Do me a favor, Eleanor. Get over the shock of having ‘that kid’ in your class before he walks through your door on Tuesday.”

“Thank you,” Eleanor said, nodding.

Dory walked back over to them. “Marlin said they’ll be here soon, so I’m going to head down in a minute. Eleanor, I can’t help feeling like there was something I wanted to tell you, but it’s just not coming to me.”

“Nemo’s in her class, Dory,” Sam supplied.

“Oh!” Dory smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Of course. Dory moment, right there.” She smiled at Eleanor. “My partner’s son – _my_ son? – is in your class. He shouldn’t give you too much trouble.”

Eleanor laughed. “I’m sure he won’t.”

“Well, I’m off,” said Dory. “Eleanor, it was very nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of each other this year. Sam, see you Tuesday!”

\--

Four days later found Eleanor in her classroom, putting the finishing touches on her decorations before students would start arriving at ten.

The first family to arrive was a girl named Pearl and her fathers, and while Eleanor was talking to them, a father and son with red hair and a multitude of freckles walked in and started looking for a desk. Eleanor waved to acknowledge them, but didn’t move to say anything until Pearl and her dads had said goodbye.

“Hey, Nemo,” she greeted, tapping the nametag on the desk they’d stopped at. “At least I assume you’re Nemo.”

“I am!” the boy replied brightly.

“And you must be Marlin,” said Eleanor, nodding to his father.

“Dory told you we were coming,” Marlin replied by way of confirmation.

“She almost forgot,” Eleanor said. “But Mr. Ray mentioned it too.”

“Sam’s had a lot of practice catching what she forgets,” he said, smiling. “He’s a good friend. Nemo’s first teacher here, too.”

Which meant that this was only Nemo’s third year at this school. Eleanor turned her attention back to him now. “Alright, Nemo, I’ve got one very important question for you before I can consider your teacher-meeting complete and you can go find your new locker.”

“What do you want to know?”

“What is your number one goal for this school year?”

Nemo looked from Eleanor to his father and back. “I’d just like to have a quiet, normal school year.”

“Well we can definitely manage that,” replied Eleanor. “There’s nothing you’re excited to learn, or –“

“My track record isn’t exactly great, actually,” Nemo said, shrugging. “I was home schooled until third grade and then the, uh, thing happened. And last year Dory hit her head on a field trip so we had to go to California to find her parents. Just once I’d like to get through a whole school year like a normal kid.”

“O _kay_ ,” Eleanor replied, a little thrown. “We can work on that.”

Nemo grinned. He and Marlin left shortly after that, heading down to the first floor to find Nemo’s locker.

All told, they hadn’t quite been what she’d been expecting. Hank Septon had stopped by this morning and, just like Sam, had made a point of mentioning that Marlin was a very active parent who she’d probably see a lot of, but Eleanor had met her share of helicopter parents and Marlin –

Marlin kind of wasn’t. At least, he didn’t give her that vibe in the same way some of the other parents she’d dealt with had. He seemed more quietly anxious than controlling, and if everything Eleanor had heard about the situation a few years back was true, she wouldn’t have blamed him for being a little more intense. So she’d really been expecting something, well, more than just a regular relatively young dad with a permanently concerned expression.

Still, having met Dory, maybe that shouldn’t have surprised her. It would be hard to live with Dory and not have her bright, open optimism rub off a little. And Nemo seemed like a good kid, if oddly self-aware for a ten-year-old.

\--

For all of her coworkers’ warnings, Eleanor _didn’t_ really see that much of Marlin Anthony. He volunteered to chaperone field trips and help with events, but honestly he was a shockingly hands-off parent.

Dory, on the other hand – Eleanor saw Dory just about every day. Between the lunchroom and shared duties and just running into each other when Dory picked Nemo up after school, Eleanor was starting to consider Dory one of her best work friends. Actually, watching Dory pick Nemo up was quickly becoming one of Eleanor’s favorite parts of the day.

“Ms Wilkes, have you seen Harpo?” Dory asked, walking down the hall toward the fifth grade lockers.

Nemo’s little knot of friends started giggling. Eleanor understood that this had been the routine since Dory started at the school, but it didn’t seem to have stopped being fun for anyone yet.

“Hmm,” Eleanor replied, playing along, “I’m not sure I know any Harpos.”

“Of course,” said Dory. “I meant Fabio.”

“Do _ry_ ,” Nemo said, laughing.

“Right, Bingo,” Dory continued. “Chico?”

Nemo ran to her, backpack slung over one shoulder. She caught him in a hug.

“There’s my little Elmo!” she said, squeezing him again before releasing him.

“Let’s _go_ , Dory,” said Nemo. He took Dory’s hand and gently led her back toward the stairs.

“Okay, Nemo,” Dory replied, usually with a kiss to the top of his head. And then they’d leave – usually just up to Dory and Sam’s classroom for a while so Nemo could get some homework done while Dory was finishing up her work work for the day.

“Why the name game?” Eleanor asked over lunch one day. “When you pick Nemo up, I mean.”

Dory flushed faintly pink. “It’s a family joke now, but when – well, has anyone told you how Marlin and I met?” She paused, waiting for Eleanor’s nod before continuing. “If you can believe it, before I knew Marlin my memory was actually worse. The whole time we were driving, I just kept butchering Nemo’s name. Kid was the only reason we were on the trip, the only reason we knew each other, and I could not for the life of me remember what his name was.” She smiled faintly. “Marlin put up with it the whole time though. But, uh, yeah. That’s why we do it.”

Eleanor smiled. “It seems like Nemo really loves it.”

“I know he’s going to grow out of it eventually,” Dory said, a little wistful. “So I’m just enjoying it until he decides he’s too cool.”

“If you’re lucky, maybe he never will.”

Dory laughed. “I don’t know – I’m excited to watch him grow up. I’ve only known him for two, two and a half years? And he’s already grown so much, it’s amazing. I’m just glad to be here with him, even if he decides he doesn’t like my silly nicknames anymore.”

\--

A few months into the school year, Eleanor found that she’d settled into a pretty comfortable rhythm. She was scrambling a little to get everything she wanted to cover before Christmas out of the way, but that had happened at her old school, too.

Before she knew it, it was the last week of the semester and the faculty Christmas party was after school.

“You’re coming, right?” Dory asked. They were walking together to pick up their students from specials – Dory’s from art, Eleanor’s from music. “It’s always a lot of fun, there’s food and drinks and Marlin’s coming! Have you met Marlin? He’s not, like, the life of the party or anything but –“

“I’ve met Marlin,” Eleanor cut in. “Nemo’s in my class, remember?”

“Right, oh my god,” said Dory. “But you’re coming?”

“Yes,” Eleanor laughed, “yes, I’m coming. At least for a little while.”

“Awesome!”

They separated as they reached the art classroom. It wasn’t until later, while she was getting ready for the party, that she realized that while she had met Marlin Anthony a handful of times before, she’d actually never seen Dory and Marlin in the same place.

And oh, was Marlin-and-Dory Marlin a different beast than Marlin alone. He tended to be a reserved hoverer when it came to his son, but with Dory he was a little more open, quicker to smile, more at ease. He let Dory – naturally a tactile person, only amplified by a beer or two – lean on him and drape her arms across him like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Hey, Ms Wilkes!” he greeted, nudging Dory to get her attention.

“Call me Eleanor,” Eleanor replied. “No sense being formal when there aren’t any kids around.”

Marlin nodded. “Eleanor then. How’s the school year treating you? Do you like it here?”

“It’s been great,” Eleanor replied, smiling. “Everybody’s been really welcoming, the kids are great, nothing really ridiculous has happened – I’m gonna call it a win so far.”

“That’s great!” said Marlin. “Isn’t that great, Dory?”

“Hmm?” Dory replied, shaking her head slightly as she tuned into the conversation. “Oh, yeah. I don’t have a lot of, uh, friends, so I’m really glad you’re – you don’t just hate it here and want to up and leave.”

Marlin turned his head toward Dory’s, which made her turn toward him, bringing their noses very close together. “You okay, hon?”

“What? Yeah,” Dory said with a smile. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

_Sorry_ , Marlin mouthed at Eleanor, rolling his eyes. “From a parent perspective, Eleanor, we’re really glad to have you here.”

“Thank you,” Eleanor replied. She talked to the two of them a little longer, but before long Marlin carefully twisted out of Dory’s grasp, checking his watch. He told Dory it was time to go – Nemo was at Sheldon’s house, they had to pick him up before it got too late – and they bid Eleanor goodbye.

No sooner were they gone than Hank Septon waved her over to weigh in on a playful argument among some of the fourth and fifth grade teachers about the planetary status of Pluto.

_Yeah,_ thought Eleanor, _this is really starting to feel like home._

\--

Dory fell into her seat in the lunchroom with a scowl on her face. Eleanor kicked her foot gently to get her attention.

“What’s eatin’ you, Dor?”

“I, uh,” Dory scrunched her face up for a moment, thinking, “my parents are moving. We’re from California originally, and – and I’d lost touch for a while, but we reconnected last year.” She smiled. “What was Nemo’s goal for the year again?”

“To have a normal school year,” Eleanor replied. “I think he’s doing alright at it.”

“God, I love that kid,” Dory said, grinning. “Well last year’s big drama – the first one – was about finding my parents again, and we did which was great! But they, uh, wanted me to move home. Which isn’t – I have a family! And a job! So I said I couldn’t, but that if they wanted to live near me they could move here.”

“So they started looking for a house?” Eleanor guessed.

“So they started looking for a house,” said Dory. She nodded firmly. “And I’m really excited to have them nearby, don’t get me wrong. But now they’re planning to have this big unpacking day, only they picked a Friday, _and_ it’s the day of Nemo’s concert, so I can’t go help. And I just got off the phone with my mom, and –“ She paused, frowning. “My parents don’t really get me and Marlin, either, because we – I mean, forgive me if this is going to be too much information about a class parent – we’re partners, right? Like life partners.”

Eleanor nodded, not really sure where Dory was going with this.

“Thing is, we’ve called ourselves that since – um, I moved in with them after the whole incident, which was like two and a bit years ago – my point is that when my parents first met Nemo and Marlin, Mar and I were partners but not, like,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “ _partners_ partners, you know?”

“Yeah, I think I get your drift,” said Eleanor, stifling a snort.

“We are now, but that took a lot of other, uh.” Dory came to an abrupt stop. “I’m getting off track. The point is that we’re a little unusual and my parents don’t really understand it but usually just don’t mention it. All of this is to say that when I told my mother that I wouldn’t skip Nemo’s concert to help them unpack and she said, and I quote, ‘well, it’s not like he’s _your_ son.’”

She completely deflated after that, falling silent and slumping forward over the table. She’d dropped her lunchbox on the table before her phone rang, and now she stared at it blankly.

“She’s _seen_ you with Nemo, right?” Eleanor asked.

Dory laughed. “I think they just have a hard time with the idea of me as, like, an _adult_. We lost touch when I was in college, and now I’m in my thirties.” She shrugged. “They love Nemo, it’s me and Marlin they don’t get. But I know they mean well, and they just want to spend time with me, I just –“

She trailed off. Eleanor patted her hand. “You want them to understand and respect your family. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Yeah,” said Dory. She smiled. “Thanks, El.” She pulled her sandwich out of her lunchbag and put an elbow on the table. “Now, what’s this I hear about you meeting some guy on your zoo field trip?”

“Okay, no, it wasn’t _some guy_ ,” Eleanor said, holding her hands up defensively. “The presenter for our animal talk was my best friend when I was a kid.”

“ _Oh_ ,” said Dory, “so it’s a long lost love situation!”

“It’s not –“

\--

“Conferences are coming up,” Eleanor said, “should I be expecting you for Nemo’s?”

“Nah, that is a _Marlin only_ event,” Dory replied with a laugh. “So you have fun with that.”

“He really hasn’t been that bad,” said Eleanor.

Dory pushed her hair back over her ear. “He’s been trying. He’s – god, you should’ve seen him when Nemo was in my class, he was a mess.”

“If any parent has a right to be a mess it’s one whose child –“ Eleanor paused, shrugging, “Well. It’s definitely Marlin. And honestly, I get more trouble from Mary Gibbs’s parents than the rest of my class _combined_.”

“Yeah, they’re – they have a bit of a reputation,” said Dory. She tapped her fingernails on the table a few times, looking for a moment like she was working up the nerve to say something. “Hey, Ellie?”

“What’s up, Dor?” 

“We - Marlin does the, uh, parent thing at school,” Dory said slowly. She gave a vague wave around the classroom for explanation; she’d stopped by Eleanor’s room to help her set up for a big project her class would be doing the next day while Nemo was at an after school class. “So we can kinda keep all this separate.”

“Makes sense,” Eleanor replied, not sure exactly where she was going with this.

Dory swept her hands through her hair again. “I just - there’s something I - I don’t know if Marlin will think to ask?”

“Shoot,” said Eleanor.

“Nemo’s okay, right?”

Eleanor set down the piece she was cutting out and looked Dory in the eye. “What do you mean?”

“He doesn’t want Marlin to worry about him,” Dory said, frowning. “I’m always afraid he won’t tell us when things are bothering him, or when he’s having trouble. But I know he still has nightmares. We all do.”

Dory generally read as a pretty open book, but in this moment, with her expression more focused and serious than Eleanor had ever seen it and her voice quiet, Eleanor realized how close she held the truth to her chest. She was bright and kind and open, but a vein of fear and worry and hurt ran deep beneath it.

And now, alone with a friend, she let it shine through.

“He’s alright,” Eleanor answered slowly, not wanting to break the moment with too sharp a response. “Social, active, generally happy. He gets overwhelmed sometimes, but he’s good at working through it and asks for a break when he can’t.” She put a hand on Dory’s where it rested on the table. “Nemo’s okay, Dor. And if he ever isn’t, you’re the first one I’ll tell.”

“Thanks, El,” Dory said, smiling weakly. She rolled her shoulders. “Okay, enough about heavy stuff. How’s Fred?”

“Carl,” Eleanor corrected gently. Just like that, the regular Dory was back. “He’s fine. Bought me a ballon on our date last weekend and I almost cried; I couldn’t believe he remembered but they were our thing when we were kids.”

“Ooh, tell me about that!” 

They started cutting out game pieces again as Eleanor told the story of how she’d indirectly broken Carl’s arm when they first met, Dory laughing and gasping at all the right moments.

—

The thing about Nemo Anthony was that he was ten-going-on-eleven. And the thing about ten year olds is that they’re resilient and sturdy until the exact moment that they absolutely aren’t anymore.

“Hey Tad?” Eleanor started, then rethought it. “No, never mind. Sheldon?”

“Yeah?” Sheldon replied, popping up from his chair.

“Would you run down to Mr. Ray’s class and get Ms. Bronwen for me?”

“Uh, yeah,” said Sheldon. He shifted on his feet a little, hesitating. “What should I, uh, say?”

Eleanor, who was kneeling in front of Dory’s quietly panicking son, turned back toward him. “Tell her that it’s about Nemo. That should be enough.”

Sure enough less than three minutes later, Dory crossed the classroom threshold. “Hey, Ms. W. What’s goin’ on?”

But then her eyes fell on Nemo and her whole posture softened. She crossed the room in four steps and fell to her knees in front of him. “ _Oh_ , Nemo. There, there. I’m here, I’ve got you.”

Eleanor pulled away, brushing a hand across Dory’s shoulder. “Let me know if you guys need anything, okay?”

Dory nodded but otherwise didn’t pull her focus from Nemo.

Eleanor returned her own attention to the rest of her class, who had been working all the while on their projects to varying degrees of focus. She circled the room, checking up on other students. They were working on a small research project about fish, with each child assigned an animal to look up a few facts about as research practice.

Nemo had been working on clownfish.

Dory leaned close to Nemo, speaking in a voice too low for anyone else to hear. Slowly, finally, Nemo’s breathing started to even out, though tears were still rolling down his cheeks. 

As Eleanor circled closer again, she heard Dory ask, “You want to stick it out, or should we go down and call Dad to come get you?”

“I just wanted one normal year,” Nemo mumbled.

“Oh, oh, kiddo,” Dory replied, smiling weakly, “this is nothing.” She swept a thumb over his cheek. “This is a sick day! Everyone has those. So what do you say, there’s only two hours left if you want to stay.”

Nemo took a deep breath. “Can we, um. Can I go home?”

“Yeah, of course. Go ahead and get your stuff together,” Dory replied. She stood up, gently ruffling his hair before pulling Eleanor aside. “Hey, El?”

“What’s up?” Eleanor asked.

“We’re having what I’m gonna call a _bad_ mental health day,” Dory said quietly. “So we’re gonna go down to the office and have them call Marlin to pick him up if that’s cool. ”

“Of course, do what you’ve got to do.”

Dory was watching Nemo put his folder together and pile pens and highlighters into his pencil case. “Thanks for grabbing me by the way, he’s – well, I know he wouldn’t have asked.”

Eleanor nodded. “I thought having you here would help. Seems like it did.”

“Yeah.” Dory sighed, turning back fully to look at Eleanor. “Mar’s gonna want to keep him home tomorrow, if you could pass along any work you want done.”

“Can do, but no worries if he needs a little more time,” replied Eleanor.

“I’ll let you know,” said Dory. “Thanks again.”

Nemo approached them then, walking slowly and favoring his good leg a little more than usual. “Do- Ms Bronwen?”

“Hey, Nemo, you ready?” Dory replied, smiling gently at him. He nodded. Dory gave Eleanor a little wave goodbye, and let Nemo lead the way out of the room.

Her class watched them go, all with various degrees of concern on their faces.

“I’ll trade topics with him,” Pearl said quietly, her eyes on the door. “For the project. He can do octopuses instead, I’ll do clownfish.”

“Thank you, Pearl,” Eleanor replied, a little surprised. “That’s very thoughtful, I’ll let Ms. Bronwen know.”

Pearl nodded firmly, and they all returned to work.

\--

The end of the school year was upon them, the end of Eleanor’s first school year with this school, and she was counting it as a win, overall. No fiascos, no parent drama, just a regular year full of regular learning. Before she knew it, the kids were gone, meetings week was over, and she was at the faculty end of year party. 

“So, any big plans for the summer, Ellie?” Dory asked, leaning against the cafeteria wall. 

“Yeah, actually,” Eleanor replied. She tucked a piece of her light brown hair over her ear. “Remember how I told you about Carl’s son Russell?” 

“Yeah,” said Dory. “Eight or nine, right?”

“Nine,” Eleanor said. “Well he’s a scout, super into nature and stuff, so we’re going to take him on a big road trip to a couple of national parks.”

“I bet that’ll be a blast,” Dory said, grinning. “Seems like a pretty big step if you’re going on a family trip with them.”

“For sure,” Eleanor said, “but at the same time it feels like I’ve always been there, you know?”

“Oh, I know.”

Eleanor nudged her with her elbow. “How about you? Any big plans with your boys?”

“Nothing big right now,” said Dory. “But they’re picking me up from the party for our first beach weekend of the summer. Little sun, little sand, lots of sunblock because Marlin and Nemo could get a sunburn from a _picture_ of the sun.”

“That sounds like fun,” Eleanor laughed.

“Should be,” said Dory. “It always is, with them. No one I’d rather spend my life with.”

They chatted companionably for a little longer before Dory’s phone rang and she set off. “See you around, Ellie!”

“See you, Dory. Have a good summer.”

“I sure will try!”


End file.
